


Lost Boy

by Somebodys_Nightmare



Series: Alone at Last [2]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Domestic Bliss, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Gratuitous Smut, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:34:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24785497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Somebodys_Nightmare/pseuds/Somebodys_Nightmare
Summary: Cloud is all up in his feelings again.  Fortunately, Tifa is there to help him take the edge off.
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Series: Alone at Last [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1789636
Comments: 35
Kudos: 151
Collections: Cloud and Tifa





	Lost Boy

**Author's Note:**

> This piece takes its title from The Midnight song, Lost Boy. Check it out.

Lost Boy

——————

CLOUD & TIFA

[ ν ] - εγλ - 2012 | September 17th

Today was his mother’s birthday.

Cloud kept turning this thought over and over in his head as he rode Fenrir over EW-27, the massive six-lane highway that spilt through the Eastern Continent and anchored smaller road systems to major landmarks.These systems connected the continent’s major cities, as well as some of the new settlements that had sprung up in the wake of Meteorfall, the Geostigma crisis, and the massive restoration efforts that had begun as a result of collaborative efforts of some major world powers. In fact, at the moment, Cloud was en route to the WRO, for an assembly with some important stakeholders that Reeve had thought Cloud should be a part of.

When he’d woke up that morning, Tifa already awake and downstairs in the kitchen, he’d glanced at his PHS, and the date that was backlit on the screen settled over him as if he’d been hit with ice water.Seeing that date conjured images of Claudia and her yellow hair, wild like his but tied into a high ponytail, in their small but cozy home in Nibelheim where they would sit together to take their meals by kerosene, her blue eyes sparkling as they chatted.He recalled the thick smell of the spaghetti she would make every Saturday, his favorite meal, one he looked forward to every week.And he remembered whenever she would bake a four-layer Nibel dark chocolate cake to celebrate one of their birthdays, the house filling with the aroma of cocoa and sugar.Sitting on the edge of their bed and smelling Tifa’s own cooking begin to waft throughout the house, Cloud had shook his head and started getting ready for the day, painful memories tracking through his subconscious.

Over the course of his entire twenty-five years, Cloud had probably spoken the most words at any given time to his mother.When he was young, she was the only person he felt completely safe and carefree around enough to speak to freely.She let him talk about the books and comics he liked, the movies he caught on television, even his aspirations to join the army and become a SOLDIER.Even when he was having a bad day - which was often, usually because of a fight, or because he’d been sent to the principal’s office, or been suspended - Claudia listened to him.With her gone, Cloud had lost that outlet forever, and all of the feelings and thoughts and burdens he carried with him now were lost in a tight abyss somewhere inside of him, eternally condemned and imprisoned.Even though he and Tifa had reached a point in their relationship where they were completely open with one another, it just was not the same, and he knew that it could never be.His mother was an irreplaceable part of his existence.

Cloud’s mood was broody and dim when he arrived at the WRO Headquarters mid-afternoon.Riding Fenrir on the openness of the highway in isolation, the wind whipping at his sides, the landscapes shifting around him, gave his mind way too much freedom to wander into itself and dig up memories that he had thought had buried themselves into crevasses where they were better left unstirred.By the time he’d toed Fenrir’s kickstand, he’d already run his brain ragged thinking about everything he had lost and every mistake he’d ever made.

His mood was not improved by his visit to the WRO.Instantly, he drew the unwanted attention of the organization’s employees and visitors.This was a regular occurrence when he visited the WRO - his identity was no secret to most people who were connected to the organization, and Reeve’s constant offers for him and Tifa to join ranks had only increased his profile among the organization’s followers.There was even a social media campaign dedicated to him with online petitions that demanded he become the general of the WRO special forces.It was the biggest joke in the world.

Because of his foul mood, Cloud was short with most of the receptionists and WRO staff he encountered on his way to the top floor, where Reeve’s offices were located.“Not interested,” was hanging from his lips each time someone approached him.He didn’t miss the blanched looks or pitying frowns his brusque attitude earned, but he also didn’t give a shit, especially not today.

Cloud’s temperament only further deteriorated when he joined the conference that Reeve had called.Rufus Shinra was sitting at the head of the conference table across from Reeve’s seat, and he was leaned back in his chair casually, his hand under his chin, fingers splayed across his pale cheek.Reno and Rude, to Cloud’s ever increasing annoyance, were seated on each of Rufus’ sides.Rufus had smirked when Cloud walked in, but said nothing, while Reno jumped at the opportunity to press his luck.

“Hey, Cloud,” he greeted with a lazy drawl; he was slouched in his chair with one arm dangling over the armrest.“It’s been a while.How’s the missus?”

Cloud shot him an icy, perilous glare.

“You know what they say, yo.Happy wife, happy life, and all that…”

Cloud stepped forward, but he felt a hand on his arm and turned to see Reeve at his side, gesturing to a seat closer to his at the front of the table, far way from where Rufus and the Turks sat.Regretting his decision to come, Cloud made sure that his burning blue gaze made eye contact with everyone before he pulled out the chair with a long drag, and collapsed into it stiffly, and leaned back with one elbow on the table casually.

“Some things never change,” Reno was muttering.

A few other individuals joined the meeting - a Commander from Fort Condor, ruddy skinned and swathed in fatigues, was already seated when Cloud arrived.Lord Godo Kisaragi had sent a delegate - a young man whose name Cloud neither listened for nor caught - to represent him at the meeting.Elder Bugah arrived from Cosmo Canyon, and the meeting started when a financier - a sharp-faced woman who was the chief financial officer of a large central bank in Junon - arrived.

Cloud folded his arms over his chest when Reeve began the meeting, watching as Cait Sith appeared to turn on the projector and display a series of images, graphs, and figures as the older man calmly spoke. Within five minutes, Cloud was bored, and determined enough from the content that his presence really wasn’t required for this sort of thing.It was a flow chart of a massive stimulus plan to inject nearly 100 billion gil into the world’s economy, and there was an explanation of the sources of each piece of revenue and the proposed breakdown of funds. Well over half of the funds, of course with considerable reinvestment strings attached, were coming directly from Rufus Shinra’s personal fortune.Wutai, Cosmo, and Fort Condor had all committed to buy substantial bonds as part of the package, and the First Bank of Junon was pledging to fill the rest with loans.

Cloud raised an eyebrow at a pie chart that showed how the funds would be liquidated into the economy over the next five years.Military, education, health, and business funding.Support for historical projects and the liberal arts were a small sliver, much to Elder Bugah’s protests.As he listened, Cloud didn’t see where he fit into any of this, unless Reeve was planning to hand over funds directly for him to use in his own business.

When Cait moved to the next slide, Cloud interjected.“How does this involve me?” he asked Reeve directly.

Reeve gave him a wan smile.“Well… aside from your personal business matters that may indirectly benefit from this project, I think it is fair to say we just like to include you in these deliberations, Cloud.”

Across the room, Rufus smirked.Reno’s tongue was hanging out in a laugh, and Rude was pushing his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose.Cloud ignored them by cutting his eyes away from them, unfolding his arms and letting them drop to his sides.

“…Fine.”Cloud didn’t consider it a compliment, more like a clever way to waste his time, but he wouldn’t be a complete ass to Reeve, or even those Shinra jerks, as much as he wanted to.Instead, he let himself drop quiet for the remainder of the discussion, pretending to pay attention to the presentation and the negotiation that took place amongst the group after its conclusion.

In reality, Cloud’s mind was crawling back inside itself.He was back in his mother’s kitchen, trying to do his homework at the kitchen table while she stirred homemade gravy for spaghetti - she always added a chili pepper and a little bit of sugar, which made it taste so good - and she was asking him about his day.Her voice was light and full of laughter even when he told her that he hated school and really didn’t like the kids in his class.She always tried to encourage him, and he hated the fact that he never took her advice once he walked out the front door.

The next thing he knew, his face was burning as he turned around to see that Nibelheim was alight with flames.There was a flash, and he saw his house burning, the rafters crashing down to its core in a gold and red explosion, luteous flecks of glowing orange singeing the air.He watched in horror as his family home collapsed on itself, and Cloud gritted his eyes shut tight.

He had been powerless to stop it, just like everything that came before and everything that came after.

“Thanks for stopping by,” Reeve was saying.Cloud looked up to see everyone was drawing away from the table, scraping back their chairs as they rose.Cloud tried to clear the fog from his brain and got up to look at Reeve, a headache from his ugly thoughts pressing into his skull.

“Yeah.”He nodded at Reeve, moved to walk away, then remembered himself and reached out and took Reeve’s hand to shake it quickly.This made him stupidly realize he had to do this with everyone if he didn’t want to look like a complete degenerate, and he quickly worked the room, ignoring Rufus and Reno’s lighthearted but teasing comments when he bid them farewell.His face flared when Rufus asked him to say hello to Ms. Lockhart for him, and Cloud had quit the conference room in two long strides.

——————

His ride on Fenrir back to Edge did nothing to improve his mood.He was finally alone - and for that, he was grateful.But the open road invited him to entertain the darkest parts of his psyche, which were, naturally, the most active and intrusive.His soft memories of his mother led to his hazy, grotesque recollection of Nibelheim and Sephiroth, and it had taken every ounce of his self control to make it out of the WRO building without managing to take anyone’s head off. Now as he drove along the highway, the sun beginning a slow dip behind the horizon, his mind was turning over every failure he had ever endured.

He watched as Tifa fell from the ragged cliffside of Mt. Nibel, staring in disbelief at his outstretched fingers as he tried to reach for her and watched her slip from his grasp.He watched her father’s boots through the tears that were misting his eyes, as the tall, broad-shouldered man bent down to gently lift her twisted and still body from the rocks, and listened to the angry and terrified curses that rained down in his direction as her father moved to carry Tifa to safety.He stared at the shocked and bemused looks on the townspeople’s faces as he walked behind Mr. Hartley, who had berated him the entire way down the mountain and back into town, as they caught sight of him shamefully returning to the village after nearly leading Tifa to her death. 

_What a troublemaker Cloud is!_

_Why would he think to bring a young girl there?_

_You’re surprised?He hasn’t got a father.Claudia has no control over him._

Cloud grit his teeth as he turned a bend on the open road.He tried to push the thoughts out, but the assault was relentless, codified in the fissures of his brain, a film that was playing on an endless loop. Now he was watching Zack collapse, covered in blood, his breath coming out in ragged drags. Blue eyes bestowed his honor upon him as he begged Cloud to take his sword and go.To never forget.

_My living legacy._

Cloud had forgotten almost immediately.

He was hugging the curve of the road that separated Midgar from Edge when bright, green eyes were suddenly haunting him, softening with a smile, before widening with destruction.The silver glint of a katana, dipped in blood, shuffling past his legs, its point resting at his feet.Aerith slumping over.

_You’re just a puppet._

Cloud groaned as his headache raged, and he ground Fenrir to a halt, taking his temples into his hands in the middle of the open road. He cursed in frustration, wishing himself to stop dragging his thoughts and his emotions through this raw loop of painful memories of loss and inadequacy.He had resolved all of this almost two years ago.He had resolved to move on.

Peeling his gloved fingers away from his face, Cloud looked up to the fork in the road that led to Midgar.A quick detour, and he could make his way to the Sector5 slums, to her church, where he had last seen Zack and Aerith both.

_Don’t even think about it._

Cloud turned Fenrir’s engine over and cast a hesitant glance at the exit to Midgar.Just then, his PHS vibrated against his hip.Reaching for it, he pulled it out, its screen casting a glow on his face.

_Teef_ 💫 _: Hey.I hope you had a good day.You’ll still be home to say goodnight to the kids?_

Cloud felt his features soften as he read the text one, two, three times, the tension in his face and forehead sliding away as he stared at the words for an eternity. He started to reply, but ended up just sliding the PHS into his pocket again, closing his eyes and lowering his head for a moment as he let his head swirl with a new blend of emotion and despondency.

 _I don’t deserve her,_ he was thinking as he turned Fenrir around and drove back to Edge.

——————

Cloud arrived at Seventh Heaven some time after eight that evening, and the autumn sun had almost fully disappeared behind the horizon.He’d already missed dinner, but at least he’d made it for the kid’s bedtime.He knew how disappointed they were if both he and Tifa didn’t come and say goodnight to them, especially Marlene, who was still young enough to care about that kind of thing.He parked Fenrir in the garage, and used the connecting back door to enter the building that served as both their home and Tifa’s place of business, avoiding her dinner crowd in the dining room up front.

As he strode down the back hallway of the house, he could hear the sounds of Seventh Heaven gently thrumming with life draw nearer.Stopping by the banister, he considered going straight upstairs to clear his head for a little while, but decided against it, knowing that wouldn’t be fair to Tifa.Instead, he kept walking until he reached the bar, and let his blue gaze scan the room for her.

He found her standing behind the bar, absently wiping it down.There were only a few patrons in the bar; it was a weeknight and it was close to closing.Tifa seemed to already be getting the place cleaned up, as a few of the tables already had their chairs stacked up on top of them.

His eyes settled on Tifa from his place in the shadows as she worked.She was wearing a snug, whitecotton tank top and dark-wash skinny jeans that hugged her hips tight but moved with her body with ease. The tips of her dark hair swayed across the full curve of her bottom provocatively as she stretched behind the bar to put a few things away.

Taking a step forward, he drew a few interested looks from a few of her customers, but ignored them as he slid up behind the bar, stepping behind her.He waited until she turned around and caught sight of him.

“Oh! Cloud!I didn’t hear you come in.”She smiled, cocking her head to one side as she dropped the dishrag on the counter.“Did you come in the back, again?”

Cloud nodded, but he found he couldn’t return her smile the way he wanted to.His head was still pounding.“Yeah,” he answered lamely.“Did the kids go to bed already?”

She furrowed her brow, already sensing something amiss in his stance, in the sadness in his eyes, in the tight way his forehead looked as if he had been frowning all day.

“They’re upstairs, but they’re still up.You can go talk to them, and your dinner is in the back.” She made an absent gesture to the kitchens behind them.“Is something wrong?”

Cloud shook his head, then frowned, his eyes drifting behind her to a bottle of whisky.It lingered there too long.“I’m fine.I’ll say goodnight to the kids.” 

Before she could respond, he was up the stairs.

——————

Cloud had tried to put on a brave face for the kids - they were perceptive of the moods of the adults around them all of the time, and Marlene especially seemed clued into his moods.Ever since he and Denzel had been cured of the stigma, Marlene was watching Cloud and reading into his disposition.It was incredibly difficult for him to shelter his feelings from her when he was having days like this.

“Why are you sad, Cloud?” Marlene asked him a few moments after he sat on the edge of her bed.

_Damn, this kid was perceptive._

The kids were getting older now - Marlene eight and Denzel twelve - and Cloud could see how their maturity was evolving them.Denzel, who had always been a little introverted and caught up in his own interests - was currently reading a pulpy science-fiction graphic novel on the tablet Tifa and Cloud had gifted him for Yule last year.Cloud could see the contortions of Denzel’s face as he read in the glow of the device, the words and sketches jumping up at him as he absorbed the story.He had been happy to see Cloud, but it had only take him a moment before he was engrossed again.

Marlene was playing with a girly, electronic diary when he walked in.She was giggling to herself over what, he couldn’t imagine, but she had set the thing aside when he came over to say goodnight.His voice had sounded so cheerless despite his best efforts, and Marlene did not miss a beat.

“I’m not sad, Marlene,” Cloud lied to her gently, brushing her bangs across her forehead, offering her the best vestige of a smile he could design.“I’m just really tired.Long day on the road, you know?”

Marlene pressed her lips into a line, and just shook her head a little as if she wasn’t sure she believed him.She didn’t press, to his mercy. “You’re happy now that you’re home, right Cloud?” she bubbled instead.

“Of course,” he replied, this time truthfully, before he pressed kisses to both kids’ foreheads.“Lights out by ten.”

He left them to their own devices, his head still swimming with a dull headache, and returned downstairs to the bar.

The bar had mostly emptied by now - Tifa was announcing last call, tending to the needs of the remaining handful of patrons in the dining room.As he glanced around, he noticed that she’d set out his plate for him at his usual seat at the end of the bar, by the corner where she kept her personal bulletin board.She’d also left him a glass of water and a tumbler of whisky by his plate.His eyes followed hers as she gathered dishes and envelopes of gil, making light conversation with her regulars as they finished their meals and drinks.Her back was turned to him as she offered one regular his final refill of the night.Cloud’s eyes traversed the slender expanse of her shoulders, the sharp dip at her waist, and the full curve of her hip, her jeans painted onto her shape.He felt his heart beat a little faster as he settled onto his barstool, and he turned away to his food before she could catch his eye, lifting the foil from his bowl.

She’d made spaghetti.

Cloud stared at the hearty meal in front of him, the bowl still warm; she’d kept it in the oven for him until he got home.The corners of his eyes twitched as he thought back to his mother again.He closed his eyes and let out a little sigh, before dropping his fork into the plate and starting to eat, the food tasting like home for so many reasons.

It wasn’t long before Tifa was locking up and pulling the gate down out front.She came inside, drawing the blinds, dusting her hands off against each other as she looked around to make sure everything was clean.Satisfied with his meal, if not feeling a little somber and nostalgic again, Cloud drained his whisky and took his bowl into kitchen to wash and dry.

When he came back, Tifa was standing behind the bar, refilling his glass and filling her own.She looked at him as he stopped next to the bar.She had picked up both glasses and was sauntering over to him.

“Another drink?” she offered.

Cloud took the drink and watched as she maneuvered around him, walking to the couch in front of the hearth in the living room that was adjoined to the bar’s main dining space.Seeing her fold herself on the couch, expecting him to join her, he followed her and set his glass down on the coffee table, watching as she flipped absently through a few channels on the bar’s wall-mounted TV above the dead fireplace, oblivious to the fact that it was muted.

He stood there observing her for a moment, still feeling a little broody and sorry for himself, his brain resuming its angst-crawl as he wondered what he did to deserve a woman like her.She was beautiful, in the dim kerosene lighting of the bar, her pale skin was cast with a natural glow, contrasting sharply with her glossy dark hair, which spilled long across her shoulders.His belly full from the generous and delicious meal she’d prepared for him, he let his eyes fall on her face, and sensing the intensity in his gaze, Tifa looked up at him earnestly.

“You going to sit down and tell me what’s wrong?”

Every curve of her body was inviting him in the way she was folded on the couch, and he watched her lips, glossy and pink, as she brought her tumbler of whisky up and took a long drink.A flood of nervous energy waved over him like gamma, and he wondered what was wrong with his brain today.He slowly dropped on the couch next to her, and she moved her body fluidly so that she was closer to him, facing him.Cloud reached for his glass and drank, feeling the liquid burn his throat and settle into his stomach, warmth erupting over his face and neck, the alcohol caressing his blood.

Tifa was looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to respond, but he kept his eyes down.Her hand moved slowly, and he watched it as it came to rest to on top of his.He was still wearing his gloves, he realized absently.Her fingernails were painted a sky blue; it dawned on him that this was the first time he’d noticed her with that color before.He could feel the warmth of her hand through the leather as it lay across his.

“Hm?” She prodded him to answer her question.

Cloud let his eyes drift up to hers, his dark mako blues catching the claret red of hers.She was staring deeply at him, trying to reach the part of him he was working to lock away from her right at that moment.He felt her gently wrapping around his heart, pushing the walls his angry thoughts had built up all day back down.He felt her fingertips snake across his bracer, working the clasp, undoing it, and sliding beneath the leather of his glove to pull it away.

“Tifa, I…”

She was working the second glove off when she finally spoke.“I could see it in your eyes when you came in, y’know,” She said softly.“You look like you’ve been somewhere really far away.”

Placing the gloves on the coffee table next to their glasses, she wrapped his much larger hands in hers, the heat of her skin emanating into his bones.

Her hands were soft, despite the callouses that still clung to the pads of her palms.Her blue fingernails gently grazed the skin on the top of his hands, running across the fine bones that connected to his knuckles.Feeling a liquid ease burrow into him, he brought his thumbs around to gently caress the sides of her palms.

“Today’s my mom’s birthday,” he finally acknowledged, realizing it was the first time he’d spoke the words out loud, maybe ever.

Tifa squeezed his hand.This was something that they, sadly, all too often could bond over.The loss of a parent.And the rabbit hole of loss it led to - the loss of a hometown, the loss of adolescence, the loss of a past and the loss of a future.

“I’m sorry,” she was saying.“Are you feeling okay?”

Cloud let his head hang then, the torrent of feelings he had been tossed through that day assailing him again.The blaring failures that he had stacked up in his permanent record, and the trail of destruction his inadequacy had left behind.It was all burning bright in his chest, running through his nerves, sending darts of pain into his temples again.

He tried to process what he wanted to say, but the words, as usual, sounded jumbled in his head, like static.His tongue felt thick.As his eyes met hers again - her soft expectancy, her unfaltering support - he wondered what made him think he had the right to unload any of this on her.

Again.

“Cloud,” Tifa suddenly encouraged, squeezing his hands again.“You know you can talk to me.”

Something in the sweet softness of her voice shattered into the searing vulnerability that was filling his chest with dread.Something about the gentleness of her words, about the smell of vanilla in her hair, about the gentle pressure of her fingertips digging into his hands, it all dismantled something in him, and had him opening his mouth.

“I…I miss mom. I did so many things wrong. If I did things differently...”He pulled one hand out from under her clasp to take his whisky in hand, sipping it bitterly. “But you already know all this.”

Something happened in that moment, and the words tumbled from him, his voice boyishly young, like what he might have sounded like if she had known him when he was sixteen.Or seventeen.Or eighteen.

Tifa moved slowly then, pulling her hands away from his and reaching her arm around his neck, pulling him close to her.Her other arm circled around his shoulders, and his face fell into the softness of her bosom.Something about the way he lay across her, the way that she cradled him, further melted his defenses, and he put his glass back to the side so that he could wrap his arm tight around her waist, burying his face into her.

“Sometimes I just get so inside of my head, Teef, and I can’t crawl back out,” he confessed.Tifa felt his fingertips drift under the hem of her tank top, attaching themselves to the flesh at her waist.“It’s like I fall back into these black holes of the past, and it ruins my whole day.”

Tifa threaded her fingers into his hair, stroking his scalp with their tips.Feeling her touch, Cloud relaxed completely until his head was in her lap.She traced slow circles over his back with her other hand, feeling him tremble beneath her touch.He held her waist tightly, pushing his face deeper into the inviting softness of her lap as she caressed him.

“And it hurts,” he said with a thundering note of finality.

Tifa let a long time pass before she spoke again.Instead, she let her touch do the speaking.Her fingers wove into his feathery hair and caressed the side of his face.She rubbed his shoulders consolingly, trying to ease the tense muscles under his sweater.She felt him continue to tremble, and she couldn’t be sure if he was actually crying, or just shaking with grief.She didn’t dare embarrass him by asking.

“It’s okay,” she finally coaxed above him.“It’s okay to feel the hurt and the sadness, Cloud.Just don’t absorb yourself in it, y’know?Besides,” her voice took on the lilt of a smile in it, “You’ll always have me here to take the pain away.”

Cloud slowly started to push up away from her lap, straightening next to her.His arm stayed around her waist.“It’s not right of me to ask you do that all the time, Tifa,” he responded.

Tifa’s smile turned into a coy, playful smirk, as she leaned forward to press a kiss to his nose. His eyes weren’t wet from tears, but they were blazes of glowing blue and green, the emotions he had been feeling bursting to the surface in the pool of his irises. Her hand, now free from toying with his hair, reached over to grab her drink again.

“Yeah?Well, you do it for me all the time.”She rose the whisky to her lips, and Cloud watched her throat as she drained the rest of glass.

Her voice had been thick and suggestive, and after being cradled in her warm lap, feeling her caress him and hold him close, and let him open himself without pressure or expectations or ridicule or anything at all other than acceptance, his heart was suddenly expanding in the cavity of his chest, crushing against his lungs until he felt like he was losing the capacity to breathe.

She set the glass down with a clink.“It’s late,” she was saying. “The kids should already be asleep.Let’s go upstairs.”

Cloud drained his own glass, and watched as Tifa unfolded herself and rose from the couch, elongating her body in a cat-like stretch.Watching her exposed midriff as she raised her arms above her head, he made a note that she hadn’t said anything about going to bed.

——————

Upstairs, Tifa asked Cloud to check on the kids while she went into the bathroom.He peered into their room, hearing the serene sound of Denzel’s soft snores and the tiny puffs of air Marlene expelled as she breathed.He watched the children for a moment as they slept, and let some of his earlier unease dissipate.Maybe there were a few things he was managing to do right.

He slipped out of the doorway and let the door close gently, then strode down the hall.Tifa was still in the bathroom, the door slightly ajar.He could hear water running. He pushed the door open and stepped inside, his gaze immediately filtering down.

Tifa was crouched to the floor, one hand in the tub.The water was running, and she pulled the shower curtain out of the way and tucked it to one side.She’d already shed her jeans, and was bent over the tub in only her tank and a pair of light blue panties, her hair tied up high on her head in a sloppy bun, long tendrils loosely grazing her neck and shoulders.Staring at the full curve of her ass, the elastic hems of her panties digging into her flesh, Cloud felt his cock instantly press against the front of his pants.

Hearing his boots on the tiled floor, Tifa straightened and shook her hand out over the water.Cloud could see the hardness of her nipples through her tank; she’d already shed her bra.She wore an affectionate smile that beckoned to him, called out to his heart.

“I thought after the day you had, maybe you’d prefer a bath?” Her suggestion was light and airy, there were flutes in her voice as she spoke.She was flirting and being attentive at the same time, and the sight of her standing there in the middle of the bathroom, almost fully out of her clothes, offering such sweetness to him, had him ready to leap forward and grab her.

“That sounds nice,” he responded thickly, his voice tangled in his throat.

She gave him another suggestive little smile, angling her dark crimson eyes shyly away from his, and Cloud found himself kicking away his boots and his socks and pants.Too quickly, though, Tifa had crossed the room in time to grab the hem of his sweater and pull it up over his head, before she pressed her body against his and found his hands, grabbing them to pull them to his sides.Standing there in his boxers, Tifa pressed her hip against his, and he flinched before tipping his head to capture her mouth between his.

Their lips met in a sweet kiss, heat slipping between them.Cloud tried to raise his arms to grasp her face, but to his surprise, Tifa was using all of her strength to keep them in place, and she was _strong_. His mind was filled with fog as he wondered what she was doing, and he felt her push herself up on her toes to deepen their kiss, poking her soft tongue hotly into his mouth, casually exploring his.The sensation of their mouths together for the first time _all day long_ had him wanting to throw her against the wall and completely ravage her.

Tifa dropped her hand across his groin, gripping him through his shorts.“Let me,” she whispered, and she was pulling his shorts down.He felt her hands grip his length, warm fingers splaying around it, holding him tight. He pulled away his arm away from her grip with his own surge of strength, and gripped her tank top; she let him pull it over her head before she stepped back a pace and let him do the same with her panties, pulling them to her ankles, where she stepped out of them coyly.

Both of them fully naked, Tifa tugged on his cock.“Come here,” she bade him gently.

Focusing on his breathing, Cloud let her lead him to the tub, where she stepped in first, lowering herself into the water.She slid so that her back was against the wall of the tub, and she spread her knees gingerly, beckoning him to join her.

Cloud looked at the setup she was trying to entertain, and blushed severely.“Tifa…” he murmured hesitantly at what she was suggesting.

“Come here,” she repeated, her voice dark molasses, and he watched her reach for some soap on the side of the tub.

Cloud was so embarrassed, but for some reason his dick got harder,impossibly harder, and all any of this accomplished was making him want to completely hide his face.But lying there waiting for him to join her, Tifa looked so fucking sexy.Her breasts were full and partially submerged, and she was beginning to swirl suds in the water.Wisps of her hair hung and floated in the tub as she sank down, and he saw a warm pink glow cresting the tops of her cheeks.

Without waiting a moment later, Cloud climbed into the tub and sank down, burrowed between Tifa’s knees, his back pressing flush against her breasts, the back of his head greeting her shoulder.

As soon as he settled in, Tifa leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him, her hands finding his chest, running soap across him.The strength and power that lay within her hands gently quested out as she massaged the soap into his skin to cleanse him, but pushed her fingertips forward in deep rotation to ease the muscles underneath.She pushed him forward to wash his back, and Cloud felt her work the muscles there, easing the tension away under the strength of her long fingers as her hands dipped across the expanse of his lower back.

Cloud held his groans of pleasure in his throat as she worked the fatigue out of his back, before gently pulling him against her again so she could attend to his front, working her fingertips over his chest, grazing his nipples.She pressed kisses to the side of his neck, and to his ear, and rubbed her nose in his hair, before cupping a handful of water and gently dousing the top of his head with it as she folded her legs around his waist.

She brought both hands around to his front and lowered them across his abdomen, causing Cloud to arch his back a little against her, her breasts pressing into his back.He desperately wanted to turn around and reach for them, to grab her by the hips and kiss her, to sink his fingers into her sweet wet pussy and rub her clit until she screamed for him.But he was trapped between the vice that was her thighs, and her hands were slipping lower over his abdomen.

One sudsy hand found his cock and wrapped around it, gripping the hard length beneath the surface of the water.Cloud felt a bomb go off in his brain as she began to pump with a steady rhythm and pressure, her hand sliding up to press into the head, flattening the beads of precum that leaked from his dick.Her mouth was on his neck again, and she was sucking at his pulse point, dipping her neck to run her tongue across the space where his shoulder and clavicle met, leaving a sharp suck there before she reared back and bit his shoulder.Cloud tried to stifle a moan, but the sound came out awkward and rumbly.

Tifa let out an airy laugh as her right hand began to tug his length faster, and her other hand slid under his balls, fondling them gently, and rubbing across the tiny patch of skin attached to them beneath.Cloud couldn’t see anymore, the room turned white, and he heard his own voice then, suddenly far away,calling Tifa’s name over and over again as she continued to pump him good and steady.A moment later he was exploding into the tub, coming all over her hands as she slowed her touch to a gentle stroking, lowering him from wherever she had sent him among the stars.

As he rode the wave back down, catching his breath, Cloud realized the divinity of it all.He was between the legs of a goddess who had just brought him to his own personal heaven.

Tifa kissed the back of his neck and mussed his hair, pushing him gently off of her.“Hey, I think we’re all clean now.Let’s go to bed.”

Her voice had that crisp, buoyant seductiveness in it again, as if she were lacing him with a playful stringand tugging on it for him to follow her.She rose and climbed gingerly out of the tub, giving him a magnificent shot of her pussy as she lifted her legs, offering him the view of her curvy behind before she wrapped a towel around herself and dried herself.If Cloud had any part of his wits, he would have jumped up and pushed her down on the floor and taken her right there.

But he was still gathering his mind and putting it back together.By the time he had restored enough strength in his legs to stand and climb out of the tub, Tifa had padded down the hall to their bedroom.

Cloud dried himself off with haste and ran a hand through his hair to right his spikes before he essentially ran down the hall to catch up to her.When he made it to their bedroom, clipping the door shut behind him, she was naked on their bed, her hair still in its bun, her towel tossed somewhere to the side.

Cloud drank in the sight of her.She was lying on her side, facing him, propped up on her elbow, her legs folded and tucked beneath her.She was slightly flushed from their bath, and her breasts were full, heaving in front of her with every breath she drew as she stared up at him hungrily.Her red eyes were sparkling dark with desire, the color of a glass of a perfectly aged merlot. 

“Fuck, Tifa…”

Cloud let his towel drop, and her crimson stare penetrated his soul as she scrutinized every line of his body, her eyes dropping to his cock, which was hardening again.

“Come here,” she commanded him for the third time that night.

Cloud wasn’t prepared for the authority in her voice, and was almost ready to whine in protest against her demand; after that performance in the bathtub, he had been fully prepared to come into this room and completely dominate her body in all of the ways that he knew best.But the passion, the fervent desire, and the devious playfulness in her eyes had him melting and caving to her wishes.

He stepped forward, crossing the room to her, his toes curling into the thick throw rug she’d brought into their room a few months ago.His cock was completely stiff again, and was a few inches from her face when he walked up to her.When he stopped in front of the bed, Tifa locked her gaze with his, the rim of mako in his eyes pulsing, green warring with blue.After a moment that lasted a lifetime, Tifa reached out with one hand to take his dick in hand, pulling him closer to her before she wrapped her warm mouth around its head.

Cloud closed his eyes as he felt himself slip, inch by inch, into the wet heat of her mouth.She was gentle, pressing the flat of her tongue against the underside of his cock, before dragging it upward, letting him slip out of her mouth as she slid her tongue around its entire crown.She puckered her lips and pressed kisses along his shaft, running her fingertips along the sides in tandem, before gripping the base tight again and pushing upwards.She kept this gentle, but spurring rhythm up for a moment, and Cloud winced, lighting striking every dendrite in his brain.

Tifa was sliding her mouth farther and farther up his shaft, spinning her tongue, laving him with her saliva.She swallowed on him, and pushed him further into her throat, and Cloud opened his eyes to see her mouth and hand wrapped around him, her skin and her face wet with her salvia and his salty wetness, her eyes shining, and he thrust his hips forward, seeing her eyes pinch closed.

“Fuck this,” Cloud cursed, dragging himself away from her, pulling out of her mouth and shielding his cock from any more of her assaults.He turned away from her, stumbling toward the dresser and leaning on it for a moment while he tried to retrieve his senses and piece them together in a way that was somewhat recognizable.

Breathing raggedly as he gripped the dresser, willing his dick to relax enough to keep it from bursting apart, Cloud heard Tifa move behind him on the mattress.

“Cloud?” her voice was small, tentative.

Cloud inhaled as much as his lungs would let him, before he turned back to her, his aquamarine irises ablaze.She was sitting up a little now, and her mouth was still pouty and wet, her eyes crimson and large with expectation.Her breasts heaved with her breathing, nipples pert and pointed at him. Her legs had slid apart a little in the way she lay now, and he could track the dark curls at the top of her mound peaking out at him.

“Tifa,” his voice was pure gravel as he said her name, and her eyes widened a little at the sound he made, it was so carnal.

He was moving toward her too fast.There was no room for her to react as his hands were on her, taking her by her waist, gripping her legs, flipping her over on to her stomach.She let out a little cry, but he was all over her body, his hands roving her, his lips and teeth pressing to her back and her shoulders and her bottom, searing her skin wherever he could find it.

Cloud gathered himself behind Tifa and pressed his palm into her back, arching it, while his other hand tugged her ass high into the hair.He chanced a glance between her legs and realized, behind the fireworks that were exploding in his head, that her cunt was _actually dripping_. Tifa, knowing instantly what he’d seen, smashed her face into the pillow, pulling her arms above her head to hold it tight.Cloud reached forward to grab her hair by her bun, yanking her face off the pillow while he slid a finger inside of her, thick drops of her slick anticipation wrapping around his digits.He dug inside of her a bit before withdrawing and swirling her wetness across her clit, eliciting a cry from her.

“Fuck, Tifa,” He was pulling the elastic tie from her hair, sliding it away to free the long tresses across her shoulders.“You really like that, huh?Working me up like that?”

Tifa pushed her hips back against his hand, rotating slowly.She licked her lips before quietly confessing, “I… I just wanted to make you feel good.”

Cloud closed his eyes as he felt her grind against his hand, and he knew that she really was a goddess.Deciding to worship at her alter, he bent to his knees and lowered himself behind her, parting her sopping wet folds with his fingers, pressing gentle kisses to her inner thighs, before leaning up and wrapping his mouth around her clit.

He heard Tifa moan in desperate ecstasy above him, her cries becoming muffled as she buried her face into her pillow again.He kept his mouth on her clit, alternating between crude sucks and elongated licks, sometimes just trapping the tiny nub between his lips and applying pressure while his fingers worked at the liquid that continued to pour out of her.Her legs were trembling, and Tifa started to wail into the pillow, her toes curling, her feet stretching, her ankles rolling.He heard her calling his name above him, and Cloud pulled one long suck against her nub as she came over his mouth, her voice pleading with him as she reached the point of no return, the horizon under her hips.

He kept his tongue pressed to her, deescalating his pressure, until he was sure she had ridden the wave and was coming back down.He rose again behind her, squeezing her hips affectionately, and without giving her any time to recover or reorient herself, slammed his entire length deep inside of her.Tifa screamed into her pillow, desperate not to wake the kids up.

Cloud didn’t care what happened at this point.He lifted one leg and placed his foot flat on the mattress to better leverage his stance, and began to tear into her, driving his cock deep inside of her with a steady, pounding, rhythm, one that was much rougher than he usually took with her.With one had on her hip, the other lifted her right leg and locked the back of her knee around his waist, opening her up more and pushing him against her sweetest, deepest spot harder than he’d ever been.

For Tifa, everything was suddenly too hot, too sensitive, too euphoric - her brain was under the assault of a million missiles of pure, carnal pleasure, nerves inside of her body being awakened and set ablaze by his relentless thrashing.She screamed his name into the pillow she cradled, and she distantly heard him call for her- “Tifa!” but it was far away, she was drowning in a sea of fire, the flames singeing her nerves away into ash as she tumbled over and felt herself falling into the depths of her passion with Cloud, who had known her since she was a child, and would know her until time came screeching to a halt because the gods had decided time had ceased.

Cloud felt Tifa coil tight before she burst, and he lowered her leg gently and reached around to rub her clit while she descended, keeping his steady rhythm against her.After a time, Tifa went slack, accepting, her shoulders shuddering with elated, bubbling sobs.Cloud reared into her three more times before he came inside of her, and her walls clenched him reflexively, drawing out his spend until he was empty and deflated, and he collapsed on top of her, still buried inside of her, a massive puddle of slick wetness between them, marring the sheets.

Long moments passed where no sound was heard aside from their ragged breaths and Tifa’s impassioned whimpers.Cloud recovered first, just enough to roll off of her, to peel her face from her pillow, and push her hair behind her ears.Her face was wet from sweat and tears, her bottom lip was bruised from where she had been biting down on it.

He leaned forward and kissed her mouth, gently, lovingly, but deeply, cupping her face in his hands, stroking her cheeks with affection. “Are you okay?” he asked her in a soft voice.

Her crimson eyes sparkled as she looked up at him, adoration swirling in her pupils.“The best,” she answered, her lips spreading into a little smile.

“Are you sure?” He frowned a little, and Tifa giggled softly, completely in love with how concerned he always was.“Did I hurt you at all?”

“Only in the best ways.”

Her playful words settled in his chest, deep in his heart, and he leaned in to kiss her again.Giving her a moment to cool down, he slowly rose from the bed, and grabbed Tifa’s towel from where it had been discarded on the other side of the bed.After sopping up some of the mess on the sheets, he covered himself with his own towel, disappeared to the bathroom, and returned with a warm, wet hand towel, and a paper cup of water. He gently wiped Tifa down between her legs, cleaning her, before wiping himself down. She drained the entire cup, and he didn’t mind.

When he glanced back at her, Tifa’s eyes were heavy lidded, and her hands were folded under her face, as if she were preparing to fall asleep. Dark rubies were peering up at him under her lashes.

Cloud slid into bed next to her, pulling the covers up over both of them before he gathered her into his arms, pressing another chaste kiss to her lips, parting them just slightly. As they lay side by side, facing each other, she looked up at him sleepily and gave him a tiny yawn in response.

“Nuh uh,” he whispered, alternating kisses between her mouth, her nose, her cheek.“Let’s make love one more time.”He desperately needed a tender moment with her after what they’d just shared.

She circled her arms around his neck and buried her face in his neck in response. Cloud gently lifted her leg over his waist and sank his length, already stiff again, inside her wet core.He rocked into her, slowly, for a long time, her clutching him as they exchanged kisses on each other’s mouths and necks, and he massaged her breasts and rubbed her clit, a long time before they reached a new fever pitch and their bodies rode them together into a new zenith of ecstasy, calling each other’s names.

When they came down, Tifa was somehow cradling him again, his head against her breast, flaxen hair tickling her skin.She was stroking his hair absently.

“I love you, Cloud,” she whispered into the air.

Cloud smiled against her soft skin, pulling her closer to him by her waist.“I love you too, Teef,” he replied.

Already he could feel her chest rising and falling in slumber, as if his words had lullaby’d her to sleep.

Closing his eyes, Cloud clutched her tight, promising again that he’d always be there. That’d he always love and protect and cherish her.Because when he was lost, she found him. 

Because she was always there.

**Author's Note:**

> One thing I don't want to do is drown post ACC Cloti in angst. I didn't mean to do that here, (because I relish straight Fluffy Smutty Cloti) but I wanted to adequately portray what pain and trauma looks like in a person, and how a loving partner might intervene and support, even sexually. I welcome feedback and thoughts. I have to get back to the physical office soon, so not sure how fast I can add new pieces to this series, but I'm working on many ideas~ I'm also working on a massive Cloti novel that supports a lot of little things in this smut.
> 
> Godspeed to you all and thanks for stopping by!


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